News

A new study involving a total of 30,000 firefighters from three large cities found they had higher rates of several types of cancers, and of all cancers combined, than the U.S. population as a whole. The researchers found that the firefighters had a rate of mesothelioma two times greater than the rate in the U.S. population as a whole. The researchers said it was likely that the findings were associated with exposure to asbestos, and NIOSH noted this is the first study ever to identify an excess of mesothelioma in U.S. firefighters.